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work travel around age 2 - what will it look like?

Hi ladies. I have the opportunity to travel to a few conferences this spring for work. I haven't done hardly any professional development in the past few years and these particular trainings would be really relevant for me. My son will be around 23-24 mos of age at that time. One of the conferences is 2 days (so I would be gone for probably 3 nights) and the other is 4 days (so potentially gone for like 5 nights). Both are out of state. Even though this is 4-5 months away, I need to decide now whether I want to pursue the opportunity, if I am to put in the travel requests etc. So I need to figure out if this is do-able.

My conflict is of course about bedtime and night nursing. I've never been away from my son overnight. At 19 mos now, he still nurses down at bedtime (and for naps when we are together), at least 3-4x overnight (sometimes more), and first thing in the AM when he wakes up. And lately, he's been nursing a lot during the day too. I have been totally pump weaned for about 4 mos now, comfortably. But I don't expect I could be away from him for days at at time comfortably, and how would he do with that anyway, emotionally & nutritionally? He does great with solids, but rejects cow milk.

If I decide to do this, what should I expect? Will I need to actually start pumping again to save some of my milk for him while I'm away? Do I need to prepare overnight feedings that daddy can give? (My son has been rejecting bottles since age 13 mos so I don't even know what that would look like -- he is used to water only in his sippy cups.) Do we need to work on getting him to accept cows milk? I do all of the night time parenting -- we all cosleep together but my son is basically sleeping with me, and he wakes multiple times at night and almost always nurses back down. My husband says he could make it work if I really want to do it, but I would be worried about leaving them like that. Also, I would have to pump while away, right? What kind of schedule would I reasonably need to maintain with that? And is there a chance that being away from my son for several days like that could prematurely impact his weaning?

Re: work travel around age 2 - what will it look like?

I worry about this too! I've been lucky that I haven't had to travel overnight yet, but I imagine that it will happen sometime before she's two. I've never not been home at bedtime to nurse her to sleep. Sorry I can't give any advice, but I can definitely commiserate.

Re: work travel around age 2 - what will it look like?

Hi mercystreet, I've traveled a number of times for work. Honestly I think DH will figure it out when you are away, if you decide to go - I don't think you need to change everything up in anticipation of a few nights away. Who knows, if you are not there LO may decide he's perfectly content STTN! (There is one mom who was on here previously who had that experience, anyway.) I think it's up to you if you want to pump in advance to leave some expressed milk for DH. My husband has used expressed milk in that way, but on my last trip a month ago (LO was 19 months at the time), he did not. And I don't think a few days without milk will be a problem, either, even if DS is still not taking cow's milk by that point. (On a side note, my LO initially rejected cow's milk, but over time did start to accept it, so now she drinks it. But even if she wasn't, she has a varied enough diet that I wouldn't have worried about her not having milk for a few days.)

As for pumping, yes, you may need to. I've pumped every trip including this recent one. Twice a day worked for me, but you'll have to see how you feel and pump accordingly.

Baby weaning: your little loves-to-nurse guy? I know from your other thread that he is nursing a lot these days - and if you continue to nurture your nursing relationship in the same way, I think it's unlikely he'll wean. In fact my LO wanted to nurse MORE than usual when I got back - sort of a rebound attachment thing. And if for some reason he doesn't want to nurse when you get back, it's a strike, not weaning, so you treat it as such.

Re: work travel around age 2 - what will it look like?

Mercystreet, I went on a couple of business trips when my DS was just over 2: one when he was 25 months for 3 days, I think, and the other when he was 29 months for a week. DS was still nursing at night when I left on the first trip. Like bfwmomof3, my DS and DH eventually figured out bedtime and middle of the night wakings. I didn't leave any expressed milk, and my DS doesn't drink cow's milk. He eats cheese and yogurt and other foods with calcium, and he drinks water, so I didn't worry.

I also pumped for each trip, maybe 3 times a day, I think: in the morning, around 5, and then before bed. That was what I needed to be comfortable, and it lined up roughly with our nursing schedule (aside from nighttime feeds). You may need to pump more or less, depending on how you feel.

Also, like bfwmomof3, my DS wanted to nurse more after we were reunited. Could your LO wean? Maybe, but if you don't want to end the nursing relationship, I agree with bfwmomof3: treat it like a strike, not weaning.

Re: work travel around age 2 - what will it look like?

Thanks ladies. Reassuring. I am leaning towards at least doing the shorter of the two trips. I need to seriously consider the longer one though, I'm not as easily sold on that!

Since I first posted this thread, my son has suddenly gone into a MAJOR mommy phase. Like he only wants me for bedtime and naps. He will just refused to nap at home if I'm not there (although he naps fine at daycare! this is just happening at the house). This didn't used to be the case - my husband has always been fine getting him down for naps or bedtime when I'm not in the house. But now he is asking for me repeatedly and he will walk around the house looking for me and crying. Same for night wakings -- he used to accept comfort from daddy, maybe not quite as quickly, but it was possible. Now he just screams until I take him and nurse. He's 19 months so I know this isn't inappropriate for his age ... but it does make me think twice about leaving for several days :/ Then again, a lot can change in 4 months, and maybe he'll outgrow it?